Factors Influencing the Use of Low Carbon Emissivity Features and Strategies in Office Buildings

Abstract

This study identified the factors influencing adoption, integration and use of low carbon emissivity strategies including features in office buildings which professional outfits and consultants who were responsible for conceiving the designs which involved 16 green office buildings located within Central Business District area of the FCT North Central Zone of Abuja, Nigeria. This was with a view to adopting them and making solid contributions on enhancing office user's comfort within the office buildings studied. Key factors investigated were 26 and they included nature of the client, availability of skill sets by the respective vendors and the sizes of the office buildings facilitated. A quantitative research methodology was adopted which included administration of the research instrument which had eighty professionals in construction and design responding to structured questions on their understanding of the subject matter. Data obtained from the field was analyzed descriptively using the SPSS software for analyzing data by social scientists. The statistics obtained from the field reveals that mean scores attributed to the individual factors which were 26 ranges from 2.72 and 3.76. Ranked in the order of influence of each of the 26 factors, the results further show that the three top most influential factors with mean values of 3.76, 3.60 and 3.51 were nature of the client, availability of skill in the firms to handle the design features and strategies and sizes of the buildings in the selected office buildings. Further analyzing the data indicates a majority of the 26 factors investigated had influence on applications of these low carbon emissivity reducing products in the buildings investigated in the research. It is believed that understanding these factors will contribute towards adopting more of these carbon emissivity reducing products in future office construction projects within the city of Abuja thereby enhancing further mitigation of the effects of the further release of the harmful carbon elements by the constructed offices into the cities landscape. That way, climate change and its effects on the built environment will be further understood in the context of the research thereby enhancing office buildings users' comfort.